So I get it, the whole "when do I pre-bake something" is super confusing.Think of it this way: poor pie dough wouldn’t stand a chance (aka be a soggy mess) with a custard filling if we don’t give it a head start. Hence why we pre-bake, because custard pies are too delicious to have soggy bottoms.Custard pies = pumpkin pies. Chocolate cream pies. Banana cream pie. Any cream pie really or pie that has a liquid-type filling that needs to be baked.You also pre-bake a pie crust for no-bake FRESH fruit filled pies. (Think fresh strawberry pie lathered in sticky glaze.)You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie.you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking. Pie weights are usually little ceramic balls, but if you don’t have them or can’t find them, dry rice or dry beans work really well too, but there’s just nothing like those cute little ceramic balls!partially pre-baked vs totally pre-baked: There are two ways to pre-bake a pie shell.partially pre-baked: The first way is to not fully bake the pie crust (otherwise known as a "partially pre-baked crust" or a "partially baked crust") because the filling will need time to cook too. For example, a pumpkin pie. If we fully baked our pie crust, it would be cardboard dry by the time our custard was done baking. This method is to just give our pie crust a head start in the baking process before we load the liquid custard in.totally pre-baked: The second way to pre-bake a crust is to fully cook the crust. This method is used for fillings that don’t need to bake, but need to chill instead. (ie, fresh fruit pies, pudding pies). Another example is a chocolate pudding pie, in which case the pudding has already been cooked, it just needs to set and chill. A good rule of thumb for knowing when you’ll need a fully baked pie crust instead of a pre-baked pie crust is when the filling itself is pretty solid, and not liquid at all and really, whether or not the filling needs to bake.the how: Preheat oven to 425°F and place a cookie sheet inside the oven to get nice and hot. In a small bowl whisk together one egg white and 1 teaspoon of water. Have a pastry brush next to your egg wash cause we’ll need it soon.Once buttery flakey pie dough has been chilled, take one disc of dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 10-20 minutes.Roll one disk out into a 12-inch circle at about ⅜-inch thick. (The length of time out of the fridge depends on how hot or cool your kitchen is.) Roll dough out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 12-inches / 30cm in diameter.Fit crust into a 9-inch pie dish, taking care not to stretch or pull the dough, or press dough in hard or too much, or the pie crust will shrink when baked. Cut excess dough so there is only a ½ to 1-inch overhang. Leave overhang, cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge for 30 minutes.After dough has rested, crimp the edges of the dough, and prick the bottom and the sides of your pie shell at least 15 times. Line a piece of aluminum foil around your crust and fill with pie weights.Place your pie crust on the pre-heated sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Quickly take the pie out of the oven and remove foil and pie weights and brush the bottom and sides with your egg white mixture.Return pie crust to oven, uncovered and continue to bake for 3 more minutes.The only difference here is if you wanted to fully bake the pie crust, you’d bake it for 20 more minutes instead of 3 minutes.And there you have it! Pre-baked goodness. See? That wasn’t so bad.
FAQs
Line a piece of aluminum foil around your crust and fill with pie weights. Place your pie crust on the pre-heated sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Quickly take the pie out of the oven and remove foil and pie weights and brush the bottom and sides with your egg white mixture.
When should you pre bake a pie crust? ›
There are a few instances, actually. You need a par-baked or fully baked crust if you're making quiche, no-bake pie, custard pie, cream pie, pudding pie, or simply want an extra-crisp pie crust. If you're making a pie that doesn't require a baked filling, you still need a baked crust.
How do you keep pre baked pie crust from getting soggy? ›
How to Prevent a Soggy Bottom Pie Crust
- Blind Bake the Crust.
- Choose the Right Rack in the Oven.
- Brush the Bottom with Corn Syrup or Egg White.
- Put the Pie on a Hot Cookie Sheet.
- Make a Thicker Crust.
- Add a Layer.
- Consider a Metal Pie Pan.
If your recipe doesn't have instructions and you're wondering how long to pre bake the pie, here's what I do: I pre bake the prepped pie crust at 350°F. If the crust is homemade from scratch, I pre bake for 35 minutes. If the crust is store-bought, I pre bake for 30 minutes.
What is the procedure for preparing a prebaked pie shell? ›
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut out a circle of aluminum foil or parchment paper and fit it into the chilled pie shell. Fill with rice, beans, or ceramic pie weights and bake the pie shell for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are just golden and beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan.
How long do you pre-bake a frozen pie crust? ›
BAKING INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Remove frozen crust from package. Let thaw 15 minutes.
- Thoroughly prick bottom and side of crust with fork to help reduce shrinkage and bubbling. ...
- Place on baking sheet and bake on middle oven rack for 12-15 minutes at 375°F.
- Cool completely.
Bake with weights in the center.
Add pie weights, dry rice, dried beans or (as I've done here) dry wheat berries, enough to fill the pan 2/3 full. Chill the crust for 30 minutes; this will solidify the fat, which helps prevent shrinkage. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 20 minutes.
How long should pie crust rest before baking? ›
Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or up to overnight. Tip: Chilling hardens the fat in the dough, which will help the crust maintain its structure as it bakes. And the short rest before rolling relaxes the dough's gluten, helping prevent a tough crust.
How do you get a crispy crust on the bottom of a pie? ›
Getting a brown, flaky/crispy bottom crust on your pie is all about quick and effective heat transfer. That's why aluminum or aluminum/steel pans — rather than glass or stoneware — are your best choice for baking pie. Metal, especially aluminum, transfers heat quickly and efficiently from oven to pie crust.
Should I egg wash the bottom pie crust? ›
Brushing on egg white will lead to a paler baked good with a very good shine. An egg white only egg wash is useful for brushing on the bottom of blind-baked pie crusts to create a watertight barrier between the filling and the crust. Or it can be used to help sugar adhere to pastry.
If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.
What is the ideal temperature to bake a pie? ›
Preheat the oven to the temperature that your recipe recommends. Most fruit pies bake at a temperature between 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Some recipes call for baking the pie in a 450 degree F oven to begin with, then turning down the oven to about 350 degrees F.
Can you make pie crust ahead of time? ›
Also, it's convenient to have the dough chilled and ready to roll when you go to make your pie. You can make pie dough up to one month in advance; wrap it well, store it in the freezer, and defrost in the fridge the night before you plan to use it.
What is the difference between par bake and blind bake? ›
For the purposes of this showdown, we're defining blind baking as completely baking a pie crust, and par baking as partially baking it. Blind-baked crusts get filled with fillings that don't need to be baked; par-baked crusts are used for fillings that need to be cooked in the oven.
When should I Prebake my pie crust? ›
You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie.
Should you poke holes in the bottom of pie crust? ›
With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.
What is a bakers practice of baking pie shells in advance? ›
In general, blind baking a pie crust can help prevent the pie crust from getting too soggy, especially if you are using a wet filling. A prebaked pie shell creates a noticeable definition between the crust and filling, leaving the crust flaky and crisp against the soft filling.
Is it better to freeze a pie crust baked or unbaked? ›
An unbaked crust will keep for 2 months in the freezer; a baked crust will keep for 4 months. To thaw a baked pie crust, unwrap and let stand at room temperature, or heat in the oven at 350°F for about 6 minutes. Don't thaw unbaked crusts; bake them right out of the freezer. Freeze a baked fruit pie for later!
How to keep pie crust from getting soggy after baking? ›
Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.
Is it better to thaw frozen pie crust before baking? ›
Thawing first cuts back on baking time, and yields a moister, more tender pie. Spray the crust with water and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
Line the base and sides of an uncooked pastry case with non-stick baking paper. Fill with rice, dried beans, or metal or ceramic baking weights. (This stops the pastry base rising during cooking.) Place on a baking tray and cook in an oven preheated to 220C for 8-10 minutes.
Is it OK to make pie crust ahead of time? ›
In a professional bakery, pie dough is prepared up to several days in advance. I suggest you set yourself up the same way at home. Making the dough in advance gives the gluten time to relax, which prevents shrinkage in the crust when baked. It also ensures that the dough is properly chilled.
What happens if you don't chill pie crust before baking? ›
Non-chilled crust is fairly crumbly and less smooth, which makes it harder to roll out and means it may not look as polished. It will brown more quickly and the final product will likely be tougher, heavier, and more doughy – none of those in a bad way. It will likely have a more intense, butter flavor.
So I get it, the whole "when do I pre-bake something" is super confusing.Think of it this way: poor pie dough wouldn’t stand a chance (aka be a soggy mess) with a custard filling if we don’t give it a head start. Hence why we pre-bake, because custard pies are too delicious to have soggy bottoms.Custard pies = pumpkin pies. Chocolate cream pies. Banana cream pie. Any cream pie really or pie that has a liquid-type filling that needs to be baked.You also pre-bake a pie crust for no-bake FRESH fruit filled pies. (Think fresh strawberry pie lathered in sticky glaze.)You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie.
you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking. Pie weights are usually little ceramic balls, but if you don’t have them or can’t find them, dry rice or dry beans work really well too, but there’s just nothing like those cute little ceramic balls!partially pre-baked vs totally pre-baked: There are two ways to pre-bake a pie shell.partially pre-baked: The first way is to not fully bake the pie crust (otherwise known as a "partially pre-baked crust" or a "partially baked crust") because the filling will need time to cook too. For example, a pumpkin pie. If we fully baked our pie crust, it would be cardboard dry by the time our custard was done baking. This method is to just give our pie crust a head start in the baking process before we load the liquid custard in.totally pre-baked: The second way to pre-bake a crust is to fully cook the crust. This method is used for fillings that don’t need to bake, but need to chill instead. (ie, fresh fruit pies, pudding pies). Another example is a chocolate pudding pie, in which case the pudding has already been cooked, it just needs to set and chill. A good rule of thumb for knowing when you’ll need a fully baked pie crust instead of a pre-baked pie crust is when the filling itself is pretty solid, and not liquid at all and really, whether or not the filling needs to bake.the how: Preheat oven to 425°F and place a cookie sheet inside the oven to get nice and hot. In a small bowl whisk together one egg white and 1 teaspoon of water. Have a pastry brush next to your egg wash cause we’ll need it soon.
Once buttery flakey pie dough has been chilled, take one disc of dough from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 10-20 minutes.Roll one disk out into a 12-inch circle at about ⅜-inch thick. (The length of time out of the fridge depends on how hot or cool your kitchen is.) Roll dough out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 12-inches / 30cm in diameter.Fit crust into a 9-inch pie dish, taking care not to stretch or pull the dough, or press dough in hard or too much, or the pie crust will shrink when baked. Cut excess dough so there is only a ½ to 1-inch overhang. Leave overhang, cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge for 30 minutes.After dough has rested, crimp the edges of the dough, and prick the bottom and the sides of your pie shell at least 15 times. Line a piece of aluminum foil around your crust and fill with pie weights.
Place your pie crust on the pre-heated sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes. Quickly take the pie out of the oven and remove foil and pie weights and brush the bottom and sides with your egg white mixture.Return pie crust to oven, uncovered and continue to bake for 3 more minutes.The only difference here is if you wanted to fully bake the pie crust, you’d bake it for 20 more minutes instead of 3 minutes.And there you have it! Pre-baked goodness. See? That wasn’t so bad.
